1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an image forming device and an image forming system.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, as an ink jet type image forming device, an image forming device in, which an image forming portion is composed of a plurality of image forming units are disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2008-221500 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H04-223186.
In the image forming device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2008-221500, an image forming portion is configured by connecting two image forming units in which an upstream side image forming unit prints a line image and a downstream side image forming unit prints a character image to form a complete image. Because the printing process is divided between two image forming units, it is possible to achieve high speed printing and increase the flexibility in image formation.
In the image forming device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H04-223186, a plurality of image forming units such as ink jet engines that eject an ink droplet is connected in removable manner. Types, number, and arrangement order of the image forming units are previously set and managed by a main control device. In the case where the number or the arrangement order is different from a set value, it is treated as an error.
In recent years, in the ink jet printer industry, demands for high-speed printing, high-resolution printing quality, and high-quality images have increased, and the demands (specifications) are diversified. If a different model is manufactured for each specification, manufacturing becomes complicated, or a development cost of each model increases. Further, there is a demand for an image forming device of which functions can be easily extended or changed, and it is also required to reduce machine downtime with the high speed operation.